Across the Tanami to Alice and the Red Centre

With the Bungles conquered we headed back to Halls Creek and then into the Tanami. We didn’t make it all the way to Wolfe Creek because Nat had spent too long stuffing around publishing the Blog site at Halls Creek (of course the time we spent bogged on the road out of the Bungles wouldn’t have contributed to our running late at ALL). Instead of camping at the Wolfe Creek crater we did a bit of paddock bashing off the Tanami Road till we found somewhere that was pretty well hidden from the road and with the Croc Repellent near at hand we spent a lovely night bush camping. Next morning we arrived at Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater and spent an hour or so walking to the rim of it and then down into its centre.

Wolfe Creek Crater

After that we kept heading south till about 3pm where we found a good spot to bush camp again. That night we had a couple of camels walk through our camp which was a bit unnerving. To begin with all you could hear was a crashing through the scrub, and this in turn was followed up by some bellowing and gurgling.  Not sure what was going on Daz (our hero) investigated and soon spotted a few camels cruising through the campsite.

Next morning the wind was blowing its chops off and it was FREEZING! After digging out the winter woollies and then eating breakfast inside the camper so the wind wouldn’t blow the food off the table we packed up and kept going. That evening we made a special effort to find some trees to camp in which made a pretty good wind break.

Tanami Road at the WA/NT boarder

There’s not a lot to say about the Tanami – apart from Wolfe Creek and the 33 burnt out cars that we counted on the road, there’s nothing to look at but scrub and a pretty corrugated road. The thing you have to be careful of is that there’s about 700km between fuel stops, but with the long range fuel tank in the Patrol bridged the distance quite comfortably. We pulled into the aboriginal community of Yuendumu the next day for a fuel stop and I have to say it – the place is scary. You can’t help but shake your head and wonder why the government keeps throwing money into rebuilding houses there that are just getting trashed and why the people living in the houses keep trashing them. Speaking of trash, the edge of the streets are lined with ankle deep rubbish that seems to have been dropped wherever the previous owner finished with it. The locals and their numerous dogs are generally wandering around on the roads or sitting in the park around camp fires that would appear to be using parts of their houses for fuel. Clearly the formula is very wrong in this place. We got our fuel and then got the hell out of there.

A couple of these monster trucks were on their way to a mine on the Tanami Road

We arrived in Alice later that afternoon and looked up Darren’s Cousins. We Spent 2 nights camped in their front yard (Thanks Craig and Debbie & family!) while we restocked and planned the next part of our trip to the Red Centre.  

Simsons Gap

After 2 freezing nights in Alice (getting down to minus 2 degrees) we headed west on Namatjira Drive on what is essentially a gorge crawl (like a pub crawl but with gorges instead of pubs). We did Simpsons Gap just as the handover ceremony was about to begin to hand ownership back to the local tribe and shortly after that had lunch at “Ellery Big Hole”. In an act of rebellion we skipped Stanley Chasm because they were wanting to make us pay about $30 for a family of 4 to have the pleasure of walking up the Chasm! (greedy ***holes). After walking up Serpentine Gorge we skipped Ormiston Gorge as we were running out of time (plus we were feeling a bit over-gorged on gorges), and had a look at the Ocre Pits (this is a creek bed where the banks are vertical walls of ocre – the aboriginals used (and still do use) ocre to make the paint for their rock art).

West Macdonald Ranges

After that we headed to what turned out to be a great camp ground at Redbank Gorge, complete with gas BBQ, fireplace and picnic table. It was a great spot.

Gosses Bluff from afar

Next morning we walked up to Redbank Gorge (really nice)and then we drove to a lookout over Gosses Bluff. This is a crater caused by a comet smashing into the earth here. From the lookout you get a really good sense of the shape of the crater and it looks spectacular. Once we drove into the crater however, it just looks like a bunch of hills. Even so we started to make our lunch here but soon got driven out by a swarm of overly friendly bees that seemed to be everywhere in the crater. We decided lunch could wait and got out of there.

Later that afternoon we arrived at Kings Canyon where there is a caravan park called ‘kings canyon resort’ (original name huh?). We set up camp there and the next morning got up early and packed up to head to the start point of the walks. Kings Canyon is really specular from afar, but the 6km Rim Walk is brilliant. You have to climb a really steep section to begin with, and this gets you to the top of the canyon. From here you walk around a huge chasm through amazing rock formations that look a bit like the Bungle Bungles. Despite the freezing, howling winds and the annoying tour bus groups that straggle around the place like browns cows we loved this walk. Even the Kids loved it – especially parts with steps and bridges!

Kings Canyon from afar

Daz and the Kids pull a few Cheer Leader maneuvers 'Kings Canyon Style'

Bungle Bungle like rock formations at the top of Kings Canyon

Scary Cliff at Kings Canyon

After that we pushed on towards Ayres Rock. Nat spent most of this part of the trip sewing some gloves up so they wouldn’t fall apart, after having chopped the fingers out of them (such is the cold that she never wants to take her gloves off – but they make it hard to do stuff) So now with fingerless gloves she has both warmth and ability to do stuff – even if she DOES look like a hobo.

It wasn’t long before a big orange rock could be seen up ahead in the distance. When the kids saw it they were super excited and we spent the next 45 minutes yelling “THERE IT IS!” everytime we glimpsed the rock between hills.

We booked three nights at the Ayres Rock Resort and that night treated ourselves to dinner out on the town. If you think I’m joking about the town – really I’m not. Just outside the National Park is a full blown tourist town complete with IGA, Petrol Station, newsagent, multiple restaurants, clothes shops etc etc. If you come back in 50 years there’ll probably be high-rise buildings and a MacDonalds and KFC!

Anyhow that night we had a bit of an incident with a bunch of idiots in a tour bus who decided to get really drunk and start letting off firecrackers and running around the streets of the caravan park at 2:30am. We got our revenge the next morning by helping ourselves to their firewood (as we have a half 44 gallon drum for a fire in our camp site). After that we headed in to see the mighty Ayres Rock up close.

Semmos at Ayres Rock

With the freezing wind still howling, the climb to the top of the rock is currently closed. So we decided to do some of the smaller walks around the rock instead. 2km into the first walk the kids seemed to be having the time of their lives (and we had plenty of food and water in the backpacks) so we decided to turn the walk into a full lap of the rock. Well we loved this walk and the kids did as well. They did 11km that day and walked the whole lot without complaining. The most arduous part of it was coming up with enough stories to tell, as the kids decided that they wanted mum and dad to tell stories to pass the time. Of course the fate of Azaria Chamerlain featured as one story, as did the Rolls Family getting caught on top of the rock in an electrical storm back in the early 1980s. Despite being all “talked out” by the end of the walk we had all had a whole bunch of fun.

 

Next day the wind once again thwarted our plans to climb the rock, so we headed to the Olgas and did a few short walks there and headed back to camp early to get a yummy roast beef into the camp oven.

Arctic bush walking around the Olgas

Lookout at the Olgas

Jess and Matilda try to outdo the Euro backpackers in a contest of style

Tomorrow we’re heading for Chambers Pillar before heading east across the Plenty Highway to Boulia, and meeting Nat’s Mum and Dad at Longreach.